Monday, May 9, 2011

WHAT'S EDOM GOT TO DO WITH IT?

Whenever I ran into a word in the Bible that I did not understand . . . then I just skipped over it.

About fifteen years ago I visited Israel because my daughter and my grandchildren lived in Jerusalem.

That was the last time I just "skipped" over things in the Bible that I did not understand.

Wow! That has made a huge difference in understanding the END TIME scenario.

Now, I purposefully look up these words and research them

I noticed something: every nation that Jesus will fight against when he returns is a Muslim nation.

Every country that surrounds Israel is a Muslim nation: Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Turkey, not to mention Iraq and Iran.

Even Gog and Magog (that we were previously told by U.S. "scholars" was Russia) were regions in Eastern Turkey!

Forget about the European Union and the papacy being enemies of the Muslim nations.

If you really want to understand the END TIMES, then read Isaiah 63:1-6, Habakkuk 3:1-7, and Revelation 19. Just for your information: it is approximately 180 miles from Haifa to Petra!

Jesus is not coming back as the Sunday School Jesus, all meek and mild. The first time he came here
he came as a baby in a manger.

The next time Jesus comes he will be "The Lord of Heaven's Armies" (YHWH tseba' oth). And it is possible that many people sitting in the pews will not even know who he is. They are expecting him to land on the Mt. of Olives. Oh, he will stand on the Mt. of Olives all right, but he is coming from Edom, and more specifically from Bozrah!

Where is Edom and Bozrah?

Edom is modern Jordan, and Bozrah is a city in that nation which is now named Bouseira, very near Petra (a well-visited tourist spot near Saudia Arabia), which is also in Jordan.

He will have blood spattered all over his white uniform (Rev. 19:13 and Isaiah 63:1). Why is he spattered with blood? Because he will be a Mighty Warrior (another truth the Sunday School crowd finds difficult to believe).

"Who is this who comes from Edom, from the city of Bozrah, with his clothing stained red? Who is this in ROYAL ROBES, marching in his great strength?"

Who wears ROYAL ROBES except the Lord Jesus Christ? Who MARCHES IN GREAT STRENGTH except Jesus?

Then he answers his rhetorical question: "It is I, THE LORD,announcing your salvation! It is I, THE LORD, who has the power to save."

This is not complicated, folks. He spells it out for us. There is only one person who has the power to save, and it is the Lord Jesus Christ!

"Why are your clothes (uniform) so red, as if you have been treading out grapes?"

Get the picture? A man in a white uniform in a pool of grapes. What would he look like after just the first few minutes squishing out the grapes? Now you have the picture in your mind of Jesus as he makes his way from Saudia Arabia and Jordan to the Mt. of Olives in Jerusalem, Israel.

"I have been treading the winepress alone; no one was there to help me. In my anger I have trampled my enemies as if they were grapes. In my fury I have trampled my foes. Their blood has stained my clothes. For the time has come for me to avenge my people (the Jews), and to ransom them from their oppressors (Arab Muslims). I was amazed (even Jesus is amazed by the cowardice of the Gentiles) to see that no one intervened to help the oppressed. So I myself stepped in (from outer space: heaven) to save them with my strong arm, and my wrath sustained me (an angry God? an angry Jesus?---and here all this time he was Santa Clause). I crushed the nations in my anger and made them stagger and fall to the ground, spilling their blood upon the earth."

Why is God so angry? The answer is very simple:

Out of all the nations on the earth, he picked Israel as his prize possession. When nations of the world killed, attacked, kidnapped, burned, tortured, and beheaded Jewish people for centuries . . . God finally blows his top.

Can you blame him?

Oh, there is much, much more in Habakkuk chapter 3. Read it for yourself.

The King is actually coming . . . even if it is just a little different than what we learned in Sunday School. Too bad that we did not actually study our Bibles all those years. But the good news is that some of us are actually opening them now at the END OF TIME and learning something.

This is exciting news, folks, because those of us who are true believers will have indestructable bodies by then and we will be mighty warriors in an army led by Jesus Christ himself!

Israel means "God Prevails" and is mentioned 2,576 times in the Bible.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon have a combined population of 249 million.
Israel's population is 7.5 million. These Muslim nations have 33 times more people than Israel. But somehow Israel continues to survive. God does "prevail"!

About Me

A former teacher who left his job 50 years ago to walk the path less traveled. This journey has taken me from the U.S. to 45 nations: 150 times, to places like China (60 times) and Haiti (40 times). For more: www.FLC7.com